Kate Moss’ favourite song by The Rolling Stones
As bywords for two different generations of Cool Britannia, it tracks that Kate Moss and The Rolling Stones have been kindred spirits for years. In fact, in 2016, Moss was the centrepiece of an entire Vogue shoot dedicated to the band, featuring one memorable shot of her decked out in Mick Jagger’s infamous Union Jack cape from their 1982 UK tour and very little else.
While their cultural significance speaks for itself, their bond stems from fandom. In a typically illuminating chat with Lauren Laverne on a recent Desert Island Disks, Moss talks of getting into a fight with her then-boyfriend in New York and, in a huff, storming into the nearest bar to drown her sorrows. This bar, however, was one of particularly good taste. When she entered, the telltale percussion intro and ghostly “woo-woooos” of ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ began playing from the speakers.
As the piano rolled in and Jagger introduced himself as a man of wealth and taste, Moss found that her mood lifted, and whether her man deserved it or not, she couldn’t stay mad. It was the first time in her life that music had changed her mood in such a dramatic fashion, and it led to a lifelong Stones fandom that, over time, grew into something even deeper.
In the same interview, Moss talks about how her mother tried to teach her that you can’t always have fun, to which she replied, “Why not?!”. Perhaps it was that liberated, hedonistic streak that drew her to the band, seeing a little of herself in the Glimmer Twins’ struggle against the bastions of good taste. After all, both Moss and the Stones felt forced to justify their lifestyles to a public that saw them as role models, a position in society that none of them ever asked for.
The good news is that this connection did not just flow one way. Jagger and Keith Richards saw in Moss a kindred spirit of their own. If you want to be charitable, they saw someone who was doing in fashion what they did in music 30 years earlier, being thrillingly themselves in an industry that demanded conformity. If you’re a little more sceptical, they saw someone whose all-conquering coolness could give them some much-needed cultural cache in a 1990s that otherwise saw them sliding further and further onto the nostalgia circuit.
The true answer is probably a little of column A and column B but their story still stands as a testament to the power of the devil. Or at least having a little sympathy for him. That one masterpiece of tension and release, recorded in a panicked haze of drug addiction and legal peril could build a connection with someone decades later.
A connection that went even deeper than fandom. Moss is also godmother to Keith Richards’ granddaughter Ella Rose, and thanks to palling around with the Stones, Moss struck up a close bond with another model who found herself in the Glimmer Twins’ orbit. One who also redefined women’s fashion for her time was Anita Pallenberg. The two would be best friends all the way up until Pallenberg’s death in 2017. Such is the power of a song like ‘Sympathy For The Devil’, a ritual that even old Crowley himself would be proud of.
